Hi Everyone!
I didn’t do great throughout my undergrad. BS in Biochemistry, 2.7 overall GPA, 2.55 science GPA. I was first generation, lots of anxiety that inhibited asking questions when I should have along with just not knowing my resources, what questions I should be asking, that my GPA would even matter down the road, and working full-time throughout college. I receive no family assistance
(not a good relationship there) and I am totally self-reliant so trying to get to a point where I can even think about applying for medical school seems really far away. With my current GPA, I was unable to get a job even kind of related to my undergrad degree (over the past 2 years I’ve applied to almost every job in the state and my GPA has come up in the 2 interviews I received), couldn’t do research because of my full-time work throughout undergrad, a I have around 130k in debt from undergrad.
I am taking a couple online courses through a local community college because I have to work 60+ hours a week at my current job to pay for my bills (student loans are a killer). I did get accepted to a local professional masters program on a conditional acceptance (maintain a minimum 3.0 GPA this fall as a non-degree seeking student and I gain official acceptance for the spring 2020). Unfortunately, I still have to work full-time during grad school, I haven’t been able to do much volunteering other than 30 minutes a week every other year through a program that allows me to read to children. I think I can manage a couple days here and there shadowing but it requires me to miss work for a day and negatively impacts my tight budget.
In order for me to get to the point where I can realistically apply to medical school (GPA and MCAT wise) I think I need a better job to get there from a financial standpoint. I’ve spent the last 6 years as a CNA (and that doesn’t exactly pay a lot).
should I go to nursing school (more debt but student loan payment wise not a significant increase) for a literal double or triple in my yearly earnings, or do I continue to struggle, accumulate more debt through a master’s degree (which would also hopefully open some doors to a better job in the meantime), and work on everything else associated with applying to medical school?
Honestly, at this point in time it seems like medical school just isn’t an option and I should start looking for something else because money just isn’t going to appear out of nowhere and loans aren’t necessarily an option.
Advice?